Sunday, January 03, 2021

Enabling SSL on Blogger with You Are Not Authorized Error

Everyone knows that SSL encryption has been required of all browsers since 2017. If you don't have it nowadays, you get the dreaded Not Secure warning next to the URL. 

But what if you have a blog hosted on Blogger with a custom domain name? Back then, it was costly to purchase SSL and even trickier to implement (which I've done for my work company). In 2019, Google started to provide free SSL for Blogger blogs. When I got around to implementing it, I got the dreaded "You are not authorized to use this domain" error. Clearly the custom domain name works and I own it, why the error?

After much searching, I found that I set up this blog custom domain many eons ago (10+ years) and Google as since changed the DNS configuration for Blogger custom domains. The only way I got this to work was to first remove the custom domain from Blogger and then reimplement it with the new CNAME. So from the beginning...

  1. Log into your domain provider. I use GoDaddy, so screen shots will be shown from there.
  2. Go to your Blogger menu and click Settings on the left.
  3. Scroll down to Publishing and click on Custom Domain.
  4. Click Delete (I know this is scary, it's just temporary...)

  5. Now add the domain name back to the custom domain. This time, you will see an error with some small print saying how to set up the DNS configuration with your domain provider. Copy the CNAME information down in Notepad. This info is unique to your blog.
  6. Go back to your domain provider and navigate to the DNS settings for your website. In GoDaddy, it's Manage DNS under the 3 dots.

  7. If you already have the custom domain, you should already have the CNAME entry for www to ghs.google.com. Click Add at the bottom and add the CNAME with all the cryptic characters. It should look something like this when you're done.

  8. Go back to Blogger and add the Custom Domain name again. It should work this time.
  9. Now scroll down to HTTP section and enable HTTPS availability.

  10. The status will change to Available shortly. Try to access your site with the https:// prefix. It will take 15 minutes to an hour to become effective. Be patient!
  11. After you can access your site over https://, then you can enable the HTTP redirect.
  12. Enjoy your free SSL!

22 comments :

Juliet said...

Thank you for this guide, I was totally stuck on how to do it and this has fixed it (even if it was scary deleting my domain for a moment!).

Juliet

Louise Hernan said...

Hello Angela - I got really excited when I saw this post but I'm a little confused. Let me explain - 7 days ago, my 10 year blog came up Not Secure. I was told by a Blogger Support person I had to add a C Name to my DNS record, which I did but nothing has changed. So I'm wondering what to do now - should I delete my C Name and start all over with your directions?

Trish said...

Hi Angela, Thanks so much for your instructions! I've been searching for this answer for so long!! Finally I fixed it with your help!! Trish

Rob said...

Hi Angela,

Was in your same boat with the blog I started in 2003. Thanks for figuring this out and sharing. It was very helpful. Rob

bilal said...

Thank u i fixed my website issue

http://telenorsatellite.com/

Tom said...

Thank you so much for this guide. This was a lifesaver!

Emily said...

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

SEO Expert said...

nice

Cacasodo said...

That did the trick! Good, detailed instructions. Thank you very much!

nadnan said...

Thank you, my blog https://www.bizahmet.biz is working now...

Anonymous said...

Thanks, you were life saver. Very sad Blogger has not clarified this or has anyone accessible to help. Your post is literally the only info on the web. For anyone doing this, if you have a heart condition be careful, my blog disappeared for a couple minutes when the change over took place.

BANTI SINGH said...

Thanks so much for your instructions! That did the trick! Good, detailed instructions. Thank you very much!

Purgatory Carol said...

Going to try this, thank you! Will the site still be accessible at HTTP while waiting for the HTTPS to kick in?

Published bestsellers said...

Thanks so much for this. Works perfectly.

ManSonite - Vampromancer said...

Aa fellow blogger!
I have searched everywhere. The suggestion constantly made on google support did not work and was confusing. At least your article makes sense. I hope it works! I also contacted my domain host, they said go back to blogger and fix it. They didn't help either.

ManSonite - Vampromancer said...

Nooo and now it's all messed up and my site can't be reached.
I'm not understanding how to do this. I have enom and it says
DNS
Host name Address record type
I put the first set of numbers in the first column and the second set in the second column. for record type I selected CNAME

blogger says:
We have not been able to verify your authority to this domain. On your domain registrar's website, locate your Domain Name System (DNS) settings and enter the following two CNAMEs: (Name: www, Destination: ghs.google.com) and (Name: 6wz3XXXXX, Destination: gv-sxoXXXXXXX.dv.googlehosted.com). See https://support.google.com/blogger/answer/1233387 for detailed instructions. Support page link i blotted out the numbers. but now bloggers says can't save my info

ManSonite - Vampromancer said...

IT WORKED!
I have to say for one thing that scared me is blogger would NOT let me re add the website to publishing. I had to wait an hour and then all of a sudden it let me.
Then it kept saying the website (mine) unexpectedly disconnected the connection. I found another help topic in blogger community who said

https://support.google.com/blogger/thread/119798326?hl=en this and it worked! The waiting another 5 minutes.

Tomz said...

Great. Thanks for this awesome help.

Family Feathers Author said...

Thank you for this great info. You saved my blog! It worked perfectly. I had searched for answers everywhere and you are the one who knew what to do. Thanks again!

Melissa Brodnax
www.FamilyFeathers.com

detroitccw said...

This was an excellent article! I was able to update my free blogger site and get rid of those dreaded warnings! You rock!

Anonymous said...

I have a legacy Blogger blog (2008) and have been struggling with this for a couple of years. Your solution has finally gotten me past all the hurdles! Thank you so much for sharing these instructions.

NY Daily Quote said...

Thank you SO MUCH! I wasted a lot of time trying to do this, reading other comments and you're the only person who explained this clearly, in English. Thanks again. Much appreciated.